Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Ch-ch-changes


The post of 31st July 2009 was a submission to Waikato Regional Council (WRC) by the Whangamata Camping Association (WCA) to an application by HeB Construction for a Coastal Permit to occupy the Coastal Marine Area (foreshore). Specifically the area to be occupied is the western portion of the Whangamata boat ramp. Occupation of the foreshore is requested for the temporary dumping of dredgings and the building of a temporary structure. The dredgings will come from the digging a 1kilometer channel, to a man made depth. The channel is required to connect a constructed marina basin to the open sea.
That an application to occupy the coastal marine area was applied for 10 months into the construction period is surprising. The area to be exclusively occupied is a long-standing amenity, it is safe, and it is often in use. It is seen as a Public asset.
The planners and lawyers who progressed the district and regional councils case through the courts and into Parliament, have huge power over people and their environment. They are hired and paid highly from rates and taxes to bring a studied rationale to the management of the coastal environment and river management. They failed to mention that the boatramp and the surrounding area would become a construction zone. They hid or didn’t understand what was going to happen. This problem is recurring, the difference between evidence to the court and actual reality.
Since the submission was sent WRC has allowed HeB Construction the coastal permit to occupy. The photographs top and bottom shows the beginnings of the works. A pile of dredgings, left to the tides and rain for a week. 30% of the piled sediment has returned probably to the hole it came from.